Jonathan Comey: 10 things we learned from the Patriots' 23-20 win over the Ravens

Monday

Jan 23, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Ten things we learned from an amazing, improbable 23-20 win for the New England Patriots that sends them to their fifth Super Bowl in 12 seasons.

JONATHAN COMEY

Ten things we learned from an amazing, improbable 23-20 win for the New England Patriots that sends them to their fifth Super Bowl in 12 seasons.

Jerod Mayo came into the locker room from the shower, and let out a "Woo!" that you'd think was all about jubilation.

But it was really more relief than joy.

New England lost the turnover battle, lost the yardage battle, failed to close out the Ravens with the ball and a three-point lead, and were a fingertip away from outright losing the game in the final seconds of the game.

Instead, they won it.

The sight of Robert Kraft silently making a point toward the heavens on the victory podium, a nod to wife Myra Kraft, was enough to make you appreciate what a charmed day it was.

"When you get as old as I am, winning a game like this is a heck of a thing," Matt Light said. "This season's pretty special."

It might have been Light's last game as a pro had the Patriots lost, but instead they'll be traveling to Indianapolis next week with a shot at Light's fourth Super Bowl title.

It's fitting that after a season full of "divine intervention" talk thanks to Tim Tebow, the Patriots eliminated Tebow and the Broncos and then got a miracle of their own.

Billy Cundiff, in addition to looking like Haley Joel Osment, was a bit of a weak link as a field-goal kicker for the Ravens this year (nine misses), but in today's NFL, a missed 32-yard field goal is a one-in-fifty proposition.

Charmed? Special? Blessed?

Any way you slice it, the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl.

It's in keeping with No. 12's personality that his first comments upon being interviewed after a fifth AFC championship were that he, well, sucked.

Brady missed several receivers in the first half, and his interception in the fourth quarter on an ill-advised deep ball — to Matthew Slater? Julian Edelman? No one was really close, except Baltimore defenders — could have been the type of blunder that season obituaries are built around.

In the end, he finished with a passer rating of 57.5 that was well-deserved. He got good protection from his line, and the running game had a big first half before Baltimore caught up to the playcalls in the second half.

Brady was smiling on the podium as the CBS cameras rolled, but when he came walking off the field, he had a look on his face that was more anger than happiness.

"He's never really satisfied," Light said. "That's how he is."

Hopefully, he'll be better than he was Sunday the next time New England takes the field.

Did Flacco have a decent day? Sure. He finished with a 95.4 rating and made some nice plays with his legs. But when the Ravens had chances to put the game away, he came up small.

In the first quarter, he had Ray Rice wide open for a touchdown on a third-and-goal, but instead went to Anquan Boldin short of the marker. End result? A 20-yard field goal. They could have used those four points.

Then, in the second quarter, he had Torrey Smith wide open behind the Patriots defense. He cocked, threw "» and overshot Smith by five yards (coincidentally, the distance between Smith and the nearest Patriot DB). They could have used those seven points.

In the third quarter, after a Danny Woodhead fumble, Flacco missed on a pass from the 11 to Kris Wilson that likely would have resulted in a touchdown. The end result? Another Cundiff field goal. They could have used those extra four points. And his fourth quarter interception should have meant the end of the game, were it not for an equally poor decision by Brady on the next play (a deep interception).

Flacco came into the game with a reputation for not having that special something, and he did little to shake that tag.

Baltimore's strength offensively this year was probably it's interior offensive line. Guards Ben Grubbs and Marshal Yanda and center Matt Birk opened up a lot of lanes for Matt Birk and allowed Joe Flacco to avoid mistakes.

Building off their great effort vs. Denver, they again won the battle in the trenches, holding Ray Rice to 67 yards and a 3.2-yard average and pressuring Flacco up the middle.

"No matter what the regular season was like, it's all about now," Jerod Mayo said.

Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco were the two big offseason pickups for the Patriots this year, and they combined to play exactly zero snaps Sunday (Ochocinco was inactive). Failure? Not really.

Consider that free-agent Mark Anderson played the entire game Sunday at outside linebacker — a position he'd never played before in the NFL — and got some significant pressure on Joe Flacco.

Then there was Sterling Moore, an in-season pickup, who made the season-saving play on what would have been a game-winning TD pass to Lee Evans with seconds left.

"It was just a split-second decision and it worked out," Moore said. "We do that drill every day in practice, but it was the first time I had to use it in a game."

In addition, right guard Brian Waters has been an absolute rock on the offensive line, and recent unwanteds like James Ihedigbo, Kyle Love, Rob Ninkovich and Gerard Warren also kicked in contributions.

New England did a lot of things right en route to 14 wins in 17 games, but stopping the pass was not one of them. They got a decent amount of pressure, and forced more than their share of turnovers, but they also got gashed through the air on long passes.

On Sunday, this weakness again put them at peril.

The Ravens averaged 13.9 yards a catch and could have averaged more had some of Flacco's deep balls been more accurate.

But overall, the major pass defense issues that killed them earlier in the season seem to be past. They haven't allowed more than 300 yards of net passing since Week 13 after allowing 13+ in eight of their first 12 games.

As it turns out, your humble correspondent was alone in the back of the media elevator when the entire Ravens leadership group came in — ownership, front office, even baseball legend Cal Ripken.

You could legitimately feel the anger shimmering off this group — keep in mind, this was probably two minutes after Cundiff's missed field goal — and why not? Baltimore has put together a championship team with a legitimate chance to go to the big game four years running, and four years running they've had to watch someone else represent the AFC.

Ray Lewis and Ed Reed could both be considering retirement, Terrell Suggs will turn 30 in the fall, and Flacco's plateauing has to be a concern for everyone involved. If they couldn't win it during a down year for the AFC, will they have a better shot again?

There's little doubt that the Ravens will continue to field competitive teams — they haven't suffered through any consistent down periods since the 2000 Super Bowl run, and GM Ozzie Newsome is one of the best in the business.

But the sight of the great Hall of Famer, head down, shaking it ever so slightly from side to side, suggests that it's going to be a long January for everyone in that organization.

The field goal that Billy Cundiff missed at game's end was obviously the final difference in the game, but coach John Harbaugh probably deserves some heat for opting for a 20-yard field goal in the first quarter with his team down 3-0 and facing fourth and an inch.

A failed try, and the Ravens have the Patriots backed up in their own end against a furious Baltimore defense. A converted try and the Ravens probably score a touchdown, cause doubt in what was then a fired-up New England defense, and take a 7-3 lead.

Instead, Harbaugh played it safe and kicked the field goal, and in the end they lost by three points.

The Ravens play conservative ball and are proud of it, but on the road, against an explosive offense, sometimes you need to be a little more aggressive. It's one of many things that will surely be haunting Baltimore for the forseeable future.

It can't have been an easy few weeks for O'Brien, trying to juggle his new job at Penn State with the demands of calling an NFL offense for the highest stakes.

The death of Joe Paterno Sunday morning made it all the more difficult.

But O'Brien's game plan was excellent — he mixed the run game in there to great (and surprising) success in the first half, and put the Patriots in position to win the game. Had Brady played to his usual level, the Patriots could have won this one by double digits.

In 2004, Charlie Weis got it done despite having his ticket punched to Notre Dame, and it'll be interesting to see if O'Brien can bring a fat Super Bowl ring to his first practice at Penn State in the fall.

Before the game, Tom Brady's father came striding on the icy walkways toward the VIP boxes. The look on his face? You'd recognize it. Intense. "» Steven Tyler, who sang a mean anthem, was shown a couple of times in the press box during commercial breaks as Aerosmith songs played on the PA. Did he play it cool? Hell no — he sang along! "» Robert Kraft and his family were the last to leave the podium area, and the affection the entire organization has for him is visible with every step. "» All things being equal, watching confetti stream down on your head at midfield is pretty cool. "» Josh McDaniels came running off the field after the game, and think he's happy to be back with New England? His high-pitched "Yeaaahhhhh!" upon seeing a friendly face suggests yes. "» Rookie tackle Nate Solder looked like a pro when he was interviewed by Japanese TV and managed to go along with an increasingly odd series of questions. "» As the locker room cleared out, safety James Ihedigbo saw Devin McCourty across the locker room: "Hey Dev, see you in Indy, baby!"